Mobile terminal using contact information from a social network service and method thereof

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a mobile terminal for providing a convenient and effective contact management function by providing differentiated services for two or more connected contacts, respectively. To this end, there is provided an operation control method of a mobile terminal, and the method may include displaying a contact list containing a plurality of contacts; designating a first contact in the contact list as a first recipient according to a user&#39;s input; designating at least one second contact as a second recipient when there exists the at least one second contact connected to the first contact; and performing a first operation for the first recipient, and performing a second operation subordinate to the first operation for the second recipient.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of co-pending application Ser. No.13/705,507 filed on Dec. 5, 2012, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§119(a) to Korean Application No. 10-2011-0130423, filed on Dec. 7,2011, whose entire disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a mobile terminal and an operationcontrol method thereof, and more particularly, to a mobile terminalhaving a contact store function and operation control method thereof.

2. Background

Terminals can be classified into a mobile terminal and a stationaryterminal based on its mobility. Furthermore, the mobile terminal can befurther classified into a handheld terminal and a vehicle mount terminalbased on whether or not it can be directly carried by a user.

As it becomes multifunctional, the terminal can be allowed to capturestill images or moving images, play music or video files, play games,receive broadcast and the like, so as to be implemented as an integratedmultimedia player. Moreover, the improvement of the terminal may betaken into consideration in the aspect of structure or software tosupport and enhance the function of the terminal.

For example, a mobile terminal may provide various functions associatedwith contacts, and more particularly, provide a group managementfunction for collectively managing a plurality of contacts. In general,the group management function may provide a function for performing thesame operation for each constituent member separately.

The above references are incorporated by reference herein whereappropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternativedetails, features and/or technical background.

SUMMARY

In order to solve the foregoing problem, at least an object of thepresent disclosure is to provide a mobile terminal for providing aconvenient and effective contact management function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer to likeelements wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile terminal 100 associatedwith an embodiment;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views illustrating the externalappearance of a mobile terminal 100;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views for explaining the method of providing a userinterface in a mobile terminal according to a first and a secondembodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to an embodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to a first embodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to a second embodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to a first and a second embodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to a first embodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 9 is a view specifically illustrating a bulletin 322 shown in FIG.8;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a result to which a contact disclosedherein is linked;

FIG. 11 is a view for specifically explaining an interface of thestorage area 230 according to embodiments disclosed herein;

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining a method of performing the operation ofa mobile terminal according to a third embodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobileterminal 100 according to a third embodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating the process of selecting a main contactand an auxiliary contact according to a third embodiment disclosedherein;

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobileterminal 100 according to a third embodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobileterminal 100 according to a third embodiment disclosed herein; and

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobileterminal 100 according to a third embodiment disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings to such an extentthat the present disclosure can be easily embodied by a person havingordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.However, the present disclosure may be implemented in various differentforms, and therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to theillustrated embodiments. In order to clearly describe the presentdisclosure, parts not related to the description are omitted, and likereference numerals designate like constituent elements throughout thespecification.

A mobile terminal disclosed herein may include a portable phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcast mobile device, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), anavigation, and the like. However, it would be easily understood bythose skilled in the art that a configuration according to the followingdescription may be applicable to a stationary terminal such as a digitalTV, a desktop computer, and the like, excluding constituent elementsparticularly configured for mobile purposes.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile terminal 100 associatedwith the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile terminal100 may include a wireless communication unit 110, an audio/video (NV)input unit 120, a user input unit 130, a sensing unit 140, an outputunit 150, a memory 160, an interface unit 170, a controller 180, a powersupply unit 190, and the like. However, the constituent elements asillustrated in FIG. 1 are not necessarily required, and the mobilecommunication terminal may be implemented with greater or less number ofelements than those illustrated elements.

Hereinafter, the constituent elements 110-190 of the mobile terminal 100will be described in sequence.

The wireless communication unit 110 may include one or more elementsallowing radio communication between the mobile terminal 100 and awireless communication system, or allowing radio communication betweenthe mobile terminal 100 and a network in which the mobile terminal 100is located. For example, the wireless communication unit 110 may includea broadcast receiving module 111, a mobile communication module 112, awireless Internet module 113, a short-range communication module 114, alocation information module (position-location module) 115, and thelike.

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives broadcast signals and/orbroadcast associated information from an external broadcast managementserver through a broadcast channel. The broadcast associated informationmay mean information regarding a broadcast channel, a broadcast program,a broadcast service provider, and the like. The broadcast associatedinformation may also be provided through a mobile communication network.In this case, the broadcast associated information may be received bythe mobile communication module 112. The broadcast signal andbroadcast-associated information received through the broadcastreceiving module 111 may be stored in the memory 160.

The mobile communication module 112 transmits and/or receives a radiosignal to and/or from at least one of a base station, an externalterminal and a server over a mobile communication network. The radiosignal may include a voice call signal, a video call signal or varioustypes of data according to text and/or multimedia message transmissionand reception.

The wireless Internet module 113 as a module for supporting wirelessInternet access may be built-in or externally installed to the mobileterminal 100. A variety of wireless Internet access techniques may beused, such as WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi, Wibro (Wireless Broadband),Wimax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), HSDPA (High SpeedDownlink Packet Access), and the like.

The short-range communication module 114 refers to a module forsupporting a short-range communication. A variety of short-rangecommunication technologies may be used, such as Bluetooth, RadioFrequency IDentification (RFID), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), UltraWideBand (UWB), ZigBee, and the like.

The location information module 115 is a module for acquiring a locationof the mobile terminal 100, and there is a GPS module as arepresentative example.

Subsequently, referring to FIG. 1, the A/V (audio/video) input unit 120receives an audio or video signal, and the A/V (audio/video) input unit120 may include a camera 121, a microphone 122, and the like. The camera121 processes an image frame, such as still or moving images, obtainedby an image sensor in a video phone call or image capturing mode. Theprocessed image frame may be displayed on a display unit 151. The imageframes processed by the camera 121 may be stored in the memory 160 ortransmitted to an external device through the wireless communicationunit 110. Two or more cameras 121 may be provided according to the useenvironment of the mobile terminal.

The microphone 122 receives an external audio signal through amicrophone in a phone call mode, a recording mode, a voice recognitionmode, and the like, and processes the audio signal into electrical voicedata. The processed voice data may be converted and outputted into aformat that is transmittable to a mobile communication base stationthrough the mobile communication module 112 in the phone call mode. Themicrophone 122 may implement various types of noise canceling algorithmsto cancel noise generated during the process of receiving the externalaudio signal.

The user input unit 130 may generate input data to control an operationof the mobile terminal 100. The user input unit 130 may be configuredwith a keypad, a dome switch, a touch pad (pressure/capacitance), a jogwheel, a jog switch, and the like.

The sensing unit 140 detects presence or absence of the user's contact,and a current status of the mobile terminal 100 such as an opened orclosed configuration, a location of the mobile terminal 100, anorientation of the mobile terminal 100, an acceleration or decelerationof the mobile terminal 100, and the like, and generates a sensing signalfor controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 100. For example,when the mobile terminal 100 is a slide phone type, the sensing unit 140may sense an opened or closed configuration of the slide phone.Furthermore, the sensing unit 140 may sense whether or not power issupplied from the power supply unit 190, or whether or not an externaldevice is coupled to the interface unit 170.

The sensing unit 140 may include a proximity sensor 141. Furthermore,the sensing unit 140 may include a touch sensor (not shown) for sensinga touch operation with respect to the display unit 151.

The touch sensor may be implemented as a touch film, a touch sheet, atouch pad, and the like. The touch sensor may be configured to convertchanges of a pressure applied to a specific part of the display unit151, or a capacitance generated from a specific part of the display unit151, into electric input signals. The touch sensor may be configured tosense not only a touched position and a touched area, but also a touchpressure.

When the touch sensor and display unit 151 forms an interlayerstructure, the display unit 151 may be used as an input device ratherthan an output device. The display unit 151 may be referred to as a“touch screen”.

When there is a touch input through the touch screen, the correspondingsignals may be transmitted to a touch controller (not shown). The touchcontroller processes signals transferred from the touch sensor, and thentransmits data corresponding to the processed signals to the controller180. Accordingly, the controller 180 may sense which region of thedisplay unit 151 has been touched.

When the touch screen is a capacitance type, the proximity of a sensingobject may be detected by changes of an electromagnetic field accordingto the proximity of a sensing object. The touch screen may becategorized into a proximity sensor 141.

The proximity sensor 141 refers to a sensor for detecting the presenceor absence of a sensing object using an electromagnetic field orinfrared rays without a mechanical contact. The proximity sensor 141 hasa longer lifespan and more enhanced utility than a contact sensor. Theproximity sensor 141 may include an optical transmission typephotoelectric sensor, a direct reflective type photoelectric sensor, amirror reflective type photoelectric sensor, a high-frequencyoscillation proximity sensor, a capacitance type proximity sensor, amagnetic type proximity sensor, an infrared rays proximity sensor, andthe like.

Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience of explanation, the behavior ofa sensing object being placed in proximity with the touch screen withoutbeing brought into contact with the touch screen may be referred to as a“proximity touch”, whereas the behavior of a sensing object beingbrought into contact with the touch screen may be referred to as a“contact touch”.

The proximity sensor 141 may sense the presence or absence of aproximity touch and a proximity touch pattern (for example, a proximitytouch distance, a proximity touch direction, a proximity touch velocity,a proximity touch time, a proximity touch position, a proximity touchmoving state, etc.) Information corresponding to the presence or absenceof a proximity touch and the proximity touch pattern may be displayed onthe touch screen.

The output unit 150 may generate an output associated with visual,auditory, tactile senses. The output unit 150 may include a display unit151, an audio output module 153, an alarm unit 154, a haptic module 155,and the like.

The display unit 151 may display (output) information processed in themobile terminal 100. For example, when the mobile terminal 100 isoperated in a phone call mode, the display unit 151 may display a userinterface (UI) or graphic user interface (GUI) associated with a phonecall. When the mobile terminal 100 is operated in a video call mode orimage capturing mode, the display unit 151 may display a captured image,a received image, UI, GUI, or the like.

The display unit 151 may include at least one of a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD),an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a flexible display, athree-dimensional (3D) display, and an e-ink display.

At least one of those displays (or display devices) included in thedisplay unit 151 may be configured with a transparent or opticaltransparent type to allow the user to view the outside therethrough. Itmay be referred to as a transparent display. A representative example ofthe transparent display may be a transparent OLED (TOLED), and the like.Under this configuration, the user can view an object positioned at arear side of the mobile device body through a region occupied by thedisplay unit 151 of the mobile device body.

There may exist two or more display units 151 according to theimplementation of the mobile terminal 100. For example, a plurality ofthe display units 151 may be placed on one surface in a separate orintegrated manner, or may be place on different surfaces, respectively.

The audio output module 152 may output audio data received from thewireless communication unit 110 or stored in the memory 160, in acall-receiving mode, a call-placing mode, a recording mode, a voicerecognition mode, a broadcast reception mode, and the like. The audiooutput module 152 may output an audio signal associated with a functioncarried out in the mobile terminal 100 (for example, sound alarming acall received or a message received, and the like). The audio outputmodule 152 may include a receiver, a speaker, a buzzer, and the like.

The alarm unit 153 outputs signals notifying the occurrence of an eventfrom the mobile terminal 100. The examples of an event occurring fromthe mobile terminal 100 may include a call received, a message received,a key signal input, a touch input, and the like. The alarm unit 153 mayoutput not only video or audio signals, but also other types of signalssuch as signals for notifying the occurrence of an event in a vibrationmanner. Since the video or audio signals may be also output through thedisplay unit 151 or the audio output unit 152, the display unit 151 andthe audio output module 152 may be categorized into part of the alarmunit 153.

The haptic module 154 generates various tactile effects that can be feltby the user. A representative example of the tactile effects generatedby the haptic module 154 may include vibration. Vibration generated bythe haptic module 155 may have a controllable intensity, a controllablepattern, and the like. For example, different vibrations may be outputin a synthesized manner or in a sequential manner.

The haptic module 154 may generate various tactile effects, includingnot only vibration, but also arrangement of pins vertically moved withrespect to a skin surface being touched, air injection force or airsuction force through an injection port or suction port, touch by a skinsurface, contact with an electrode, effects by stimulus such as anelectrostatic force, reproduction of cold or hot feeling using a heatabsorbing device or heat emitting device, and the like.

The haptic module 154 may be configured to transmit tactile effectsthrough the user's direct contact, or the user's muscular sense using afinger or a hand. Two or more haptic modules 155 may be providedaccording to the configuration of the mobile terminal 100.

The memory 160 may store a program for operating the controller 180, ortemporarily store input/output data (for example, phonebooks, messages,still images, moving images, and the like). The memory 160 may storedata related to various patterns of vibrations and sounds outputted whenperforming a touch input on the touch screen.

The memory 160 may be implemented using any type of suitable storagemedium including a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimediacard micro type, a memory card type (e.g., SD or DX memory), RandomAccess Memory (RAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Read-OnlyMemory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-only Memory(EEPROM), Programmable Read-only Memory (PROM), magnetic memory,magnetic disk, optical disk, and the like. Also, the mobile terminal 100may operate a web storage which performs the storage function of thememory 160 on the Internet.

The interface unit 170 may generally be implemented to interface theportable terminal with external devices. The interface unit 170 mayallow a data reception from an external device, a power delivery to eachcomponent in the mobile terminal 100, or a data transmission from themobile terminal 100 to an external device. The interface unit 170 mayinclude, for example, wired/wireless headset ports, external chargerports, wired/wireless data ports, memory card ports, ports for couplingdevices having an identification module, audio Input/Output (I/O) ports,video I/O ports, earphone ports, and the like.

The identification module may be configured as a chip for storingvarious information required to authenticate an authority to use themobile terminal 100, which may include a User Identity Module (UIM), aSubscriber Identity Module (SIM), and the like. Also, the device havingthe identification module (hereinafter, referred to as “identificationdevice”) may be implemented in a type of smart card. Hence, theidentification device can be coupled to the mobile terminal 100 via aport.

The interface unit 170 may serve as a path for power to be supplied froman external cradle to the mobile terminal 100 when the mobile terminal100 is connected to the external cradle or as a path for transferringvarious command signals inputted from the cradle by a user to the mobileterminal 100. Such various command signals or power inputted from thecradle may operate as signals for recognizing that the mobile terminal100 has accurately been mounted to the cradle.

The controller 180 typically controls the overall operations of themobile terminal 100. For example, the controller 180 performs thecontrol and processing associated with telephony calls, datacommunications, video calls, and the like. The controller 180 mayinclude a multimedia module 181 which provides multimedia playback. Themultimedia module 181 may be configured as part of the controller 180 oras a separate component. The controller 180 can perform a patternrecognition processing so as to recognize a handwriting or drawing inputon the touch screen as text or image.

The power supply unit 190 may receive external or internal power toprovide power required by various components under the control of thecontroller 180.

Various embodiments described herein may be implemented in a computer orsimilar device readable medium using software, hardware, or anycombination thereof.

For hardware implementation, it may be implemented by using at least oneof application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors,and electrical units designed to perform the functions described herein.In some cases, such embodiments may be implemented in the controller 180itself.

For software implementation, the embodiments such as procedures orfunctions may be implemented together with separate software modulesthat allow performing of at least one function or operation. Softwarecodes can be implemented by a software application written in anysuitable programming language. The software codes may be stored in thememory 160 and executed by the controller 180.

Hereinafter, the method of processing a user input to the mobileterminal 100 will be described.

The user input unit 130 is manipulated to receive a command forcontrolling the operation of the mobile terminal 100, and may include aplurality of manipulation units. The manipulation units may be commonlydesignated as a manipulating portion, and any method may be employed ifit is a tactile manner allowing the user to perform manipulation with atactile feeling.

Various kinds of visual information may be displayed on the display unit151. The visual information may be displayed in the form of a character,a numeral, a symbol, a graphic, an icon, and the like. For an input ofthe visual information, at least one of a character, a numeral, asymbol, a graphic, and an icon may be displayed with a predeterminedarrangement so as to be implemented in the form of a keypad. Such akeypad may be referred to as a so-called “soft key.”

The display unit 151 may operate on an entire region or operate bydividing into a plurality of regions. In case of the latter, theplurality of regions may be configured to operate in an associative way.For example, an output window and an input window may be displayed onthe upper and lower portions of the display unit 151, respectively. Theoutput window and the input window may be regions allocated to output orinput information, respectively. A soft key on which numerals forinputting a phone number or the like are displayed is outputted on theinput window. When the soft key is touched, a numeral corresponding tothe touched soft key is displayed on the output window. When the firstmanipulating unit is manipulated, a phone call connection for the phonenumber displayed on the output window will be attempted or a textdisplayed on the output window will be entered to the application.

The display unit 151 or touch pad may be configured to sense a touchscroll. The user may move an object displayed on the display unit 151,for example, a cursor or pointer placed on an icon or the like, byscrolling the display unit 151 or touch pad. Moreover, when a finger ismoved on the display unit 151 or touch pad, a path being moved by thefinger may be visually displayed on the display unit 151. It may beuseful to edit an image displayed on the display unit 151.

In order to cope with a case where the display unit 151 and touch padare touched together within a predetermined period of time, one functionof the terminal 100 may be implemented. For the case of being touchedtogether, there is a case when the user clamps a body of the mobileterminal 100 using his or her thumb and forefinger. For one of the abovefunctions implemented in the mobile terminal 100, for example, there maybe an activation or de-activation for the display unit 151 or touch pad.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views illustrating the externalappearance of a mobile terminal 100 associated with the presentdisclosure. FIG. 2A is a front and a side view illustrating the mobileterminal 100, and FIG. 2B is a rear and the other side view illustratingthe mobile terminal 100.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the mobile terminal 100 disclosed herein isprovided with a bar-type terminal body. However, the present disclosureis not only limited to this type of terminal, but also applicable tovarious structures of terminals such as slide type, folder type, swiveltype, swing type, and the like, in which two and more bodies arecombined with each other in a relatively movable manner.

The terminal body includes a case (casing, housing, cover, etc.) formingan appearance of the terminal. In this embodiment, the case may bedivided into a front case 101 and a rear case 102. Various electroniccomponents may be integrated in a space formed between the front case101 and the rear case 102. At least one middle case may be additionallydisposed between the front case 101 and the rear case 102.

The cases may be formed by injection-molding a synthetic resin or may bealso formed of a metal material such as stainless steel (STS), titanium(Ti), or the like.

A display unit 151, an audio output module 152, a camera 121, a userinput unit 130 (refer to FIG. 1), a microphone 122, an interface 170,and the like may be arranged on the terminal body, mainly on the frontcase 101.

The display unit 151 occupies a most portion of the front case 101. Theaudio output unit 152 and the camera 121 are disposed on a regionadjacent to one of both ends of the display unit 151, and the user inputunit 131 and the microphone 122 are disposed on a region adjacent to theother end thereof. The user interface 132 and the interface 170, and thelike, may be disposed on a lateral surface of the front case 101 and therear case 102.

The user input unit 130 is manipulated to receive a command forcontrolling the operation of the portable terminal 100. The user inputunit 130 may include a plurality of manipulation units 131, 132.

The manipulation units 131, 132 may receive various commands. Forexample, the first manipulation unit 131 may be used to receive acommand, such as start, end, scroll, or the like. The secondmanipulation unit 132 may be used to receive a command, such ascontrolling a volume level being outputted from the audio output unit152, or switching it into a touch recognition mode of the display unit151.

Referring to FIG. 2B, a camera 121′ may be additionally mounted on arear surface of the terminal body, namely, the rear case 102. The rearcamera 121′ has an image capturing direction, which is substantiallyopposite to the direction of the front camera 121 (refer to FIG. 2A),and may have different number of pixels from those of the front camera121.

For example, that the front camera 121 may be configured to have arelatively small number of pixels, and the rear camera 121′ may beconfigured to have a relatively large number of pixels. Accordingly, incase where the front camera 121 is used for video communication, it maybe possible to reduce the size of transmission data when the usercaptures his or her own face and sends it to the other party in realtime. On the other hand, the rear camera 121′ may be used for thepurpose of storing high quality images.

On the other hand, the cameras 121, 121′ may be provided in the terminalbody in a rotatable and popupable manner.

Furthermore, a flash 123 and a mirror 124 may be additionally disposedadjacent to the rear camera 121′. The flash 123 illuminates light towardan object when capturing the object with the camera 121′. The mirror 124allows the user to look at his or her own face, or the like, in areflected way when capturing himself or herself (in a self-portraitmode) by using the rear camera 121′.

Furthermore, a rear audio output unit 152′ may be additionally disposedon a rear surface of the terminal body. The rear audio output unit 152′together with the front audio output unit 152 (refer to FIG. 2A) canimplement a stereo function, and it may be also used to implement aspeaker phone mode during a phone call.

Furthermore, an antenna 116 for receiving broadcast signals may beadditionally disposed on a lateral surface of the terminal body. Theantenna 116 constituting part of a broadcast receiving module 111 (referto FIG. 1) may be provided so as to be pulled out from the terminalbody.

Furthermore, a power supply unit 190 for supplying power to the portableterminal 100 may be mounted on the terminal body. The power supply unit190 may be configured so as to be incorporated in the terminal body, ordirectly detachable from the outside of the terminal body.

A touch pad 135 for detecting a touch may be additionally mounted on therear case 102. The touch pad 135 may be also configured with an opticaltransmission type, similarly to the display unit 151 (refer to FIG. 2A).Alternatively, a rear display unit for displaying visual information maybe additionally mounted on the touch pad 135. At this time, informationdisplayed on the both surfaces of the front display unit 151 and reardisplay unit may be controlled by the touch pad 135.

The touch pad 135 may be operated in conjunction with the display unit151 of the front case 101. The touch pad 135 may be disposed in parallelat a rear side of the display unit 151. The touch pad 135 may have thesame size as or a smaller size than the display unit 151.

Hereinafter, a mobile terminal having the function of providingdifferent services with a command for two or more contacts connected toeach other and a user interface for connecting two or more differentcontacts will be described.

The display unit 151 according to a first embodiment disclosed hereindisplays a contact list containing a plurality of contacts. The userinput unit 130 receives an input for designating a first recipient. Thecontroller 180 designates a first contact in the contact list as a firstrecipient according to a user's input, and designates at least onesecond contact as a second recipient when there exists the at least onesecond contact connected to the first contact. The wirelesscommunication unit 110 performs a first operation for the firstrecipient, and performs a second operation subordinate to the firstoperation for the second recipient.

The display unit 151 according to a second embodiment disclosed hereindisplays a list containing a plurality of items on a display unit. Theuser input unit 130 receives an input for configuring a storage area onthe display unit, and the controller 180 configures the storage area onthe display unit according to a user's input. The user input unit 130also receives an input for selecting a first item from the list, and thecontroller 180 selects the first item from the list according to theuser's input, and stores the selected first item in the storage area.Furthermore, the controller 180 connects a first contact associated withthe first item to a second contact associated with a second itemselected from the list, and stores them in the memory 160.

The user input unit 130 detects an input for dragging and dropping oneitem from the list to the storage area, and the controller 180 selectsthe one item as a first item. Again, the user input unit 130 detects aninput for dragging and dropping the first item from the storage area tothe list, and the controller 180 selects an item corresponding to theposition at which the first item has been dropped as the second item.

The display unit 151 according to a third embodiment disclosed hereindisplays a list containing a plurality of items on a display unit. Theuser input unit 130 receives an input for configuring a storage area onthe display unit, and the controller 180 configures the storage area onthe display unit according to a user's input. The user input unit 130also receives an input for selecting at least one item from the list,and the controller 180 selects the at least one item from the listaccording to the user's input, and stores the selected at least one itemin the storage area. Furthermore, the controller 180 connects aplurality of contacts associated with the selected at least one item,and stores them in the memory 160.

The user input unit 130 receives an input for dragging and dropping oneitem from the list to the storage area, and the controller 180 selectsat least one item based on the input.

Furthermore, the user input unit 130 receives an input for selecting anyone of the at least one items in the storage area, and the controller180 connects a contact associated with the selected any one item to acontact associated with the other remaining item.

Furthermore, the controller 180 connects the plurality of contactsstored in a phone book when the plurality of contacts are stored in thephone book.

Referring to FIGS. 3 through 11, a mobile terminal 100 having a userinterface for connecting two or more different contacts according to afirst and a second embodiment disclosed herein will be described.Furthermore, referring to FIGS. 12 through 17, a mobile terminal havinga function of providing different services with a command for two ormore contacts connected to each other according to a third embodimentdisclosed herein will be described.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views for explaining the method of providing a userinterface in a mobile terminal according to a first embodiment disclosedherein.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the mobile terminal 100 performs a process ofdisplaying a list containing a plurality of items on a display unit(S110). Then the mobile terminal 100 performs a process of configuring awork area on the display unit (S120). The mobile terminal 100 performs aprocess of displaying a first item selected from the list when the firstitem is dragged or dropped into the work area (S130). The mobileterminal 100 performs a process of linking a first contact associatedwith the first item to a second contact associated with a second itemselected from the list (S140).

Referring to FIG. 3B, the mobile terminal 100 performs a process oflinking at least one item selected from the list in the work area (S132)instead of the step S130. Then, the mobile terminal 100 performs aprocess of linking a plurality of contacts associated with the at leastone item (S142).

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to an embodiment disclosed herein. If the user selects anitem configured to implement a contact list display function, then themobile terminal 100 displays a contact list on the contact list displayscreen 200. The contact list may be a list of contacts stored in themobile terminal 100 or the server.

Referring to FIG. 4( a), the contact list display screen 200 may includea title area 210 for indicating information displayed on the displayunit and a list area 220 for displaying a plurality of contacts items ina list form. For example, a contact add menu icon 212 for adding a newcontact may be displayed on the title area 210. In this state, a userselects a contact 224 corresponding to “Aidan” (hereinafter Aidancontact 224) to link or associate the contact 222 corresponding to“Adam” (hereinafter Adam contact 222) to the Aidan contact 224.

Referring to FIG. 4( b), if the Aidan contact 224 is selected in thelist area 220, then the mobile terminal 100 may display a detailedinformation display screen 240 providing the detailed information of theAidan contact 224 on the display unit. The detailed information displayscreen 240 may display an image, a name, and a contact indicating aperson corresponding to the selected contact. Furthermore, the detailedinformation display screen 240 may further display a contactlinking/association menu icon 242. The user selects the contact icon 242to select a contact for linking/associating another contact to the Aidancontact 224.

Referring to FIG. 4( c), if the icon 242 is selected, then the mobileterminal 100 may display a contact selection screen 200′ to allowselection of another contact to be linked to the Aidan contact 224. Theuser may select the Adam contact 222 to link/associate the Adam contact222 to the Aidan contact 224 on the contact selection screen 200′.Accordingly, the mobile terminal 100 links the contact 222 to thecontact 224 and such association information may be stored in thememory.

In other words, referring to FIG. 4( d), if the Aidan contact 224 isselected in the list area 220, then the mobile terminal 100 may displaythe detailed information display screen 240 of the Aidan contact 224 onthe display unit. The detailed information display screen 240 maydisplay an image, a name, and detailed contact information. When thereexists a contact associated/linked to the Aidan contact 224, the mobileterminal 100 may display an indicator or an icon 244 indicating thatthere exists a contact associated or linked thereto. If the indicator244 is selected, then the detailed information of the Adam contact 222will be displayed.

Alternatively, the detailed information of the Adam contact 222 may beimmediately displayed. As shown in FIG. 7( b), if the Aidan contact 224is selected in the list area 220, then an information display screen 250displays the detailed information 252 of the Aidan contact 224linked/associated with detailed information 254 of contact 224. Theconnected information display screen 250 may display simultaneously thedetailed information 252 of the selected first contact 224 and thedetailed information 254 of the second contact 222 associated/linked tothe contact 224.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to a another embodiment disclosed herein. If the userselects an item or an icon configured to execute a contact list displayfunction, the mobile terminal 100 displays a contact list on the contactlist display screen 200, as shown in FIG. 4( a). As described above, thecontact list display screen 200 may include a title area 210 forindicating information displayed on the display unit and a contact listarea 220 for displaying a plurality of contact items. For example, whenthe user performs a long touch on one contact 222 among the plurality ofcontacts displayed on the list area 220 or selects a predetermined menu(not shown in the drawing), a work or mini-desktop or linking area 230for allowing manipulation of the contacts on the display unit, as shownin FIG. 5( a). The long touch may be based on the amount of time an iconor item is selected and/or based on number of fingers used to select anicon or an item.

The mobile terminal 100 may display the work area 230 on the displayunit. The work area 230 may be displayed at a partial region of thedisplay unit, and may be displayed, for example, at a lower end of thecontact list display screen 200. Furthermore, the work area 230 may bedisplayed to overlap with a partial region of the list area 220, or maybe displayed in a semi-transparent layer form to allow the user to viewthe overlapped contact.

Once the work area 230 is configured, the work area 230 may becontinuously displayed on the display unit even though informationdisplayed on the display unit is changed. For example, the work area 230may be continuously displayed on the display unit even when theplurality of contacts displayed on the list area 220 are changed as alist is scrolled on the list area 220. In this case, the work area 230may be used for linking/associating a contact which is displayed on thescreen to a contact which is not displayed on the screen.

In another embodiment, the work area 230 may be continuously displayedon the display unit even though the contact list display screen 200 isswitched to another screen. In this case, the work area 230 may be usedfor combining a contact displayed on the screen with an item displayedon another screen, or combining the plurality of contacts using a menudisplayed on another screen.

Though will be described later in detail, the setting of the work area230 may be released when a contact stored in the work area 230 iscombined with another contact or an input for releasing the work area230 is received. The work area 230 may be continuously displayed on thedisplay unit even though information displayed on the display unit ischanged unless the setting of the work area 230 is released.

Referring to FIG. 5( b), in a state that a work area is provided on thedisplay unit, the user may touch the Adam contact 222 to drag and/ordrop the touched contact 222 to the work area 230. The mobile terminal100 may store the information of the Adam contact 222 in a buffer orstore in a memory. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 100 may display anicon 232 indicating the Adam contact 222 has been placed in the workingarea 230. At this time, the contact 222 dropped into the working area230 may be omitted for display from the list area 220 as shown in FIG.5( c).

Referring to FIG. 5( c), the user may touch an icon 232 displayed on thework area 230 to drag and drop the touched icon 232 to the Aidan contact224. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 100 may link/associate the Adamcontact 222 to the Aidan contact 224 and store both of them. The Adamcontact 222 may be omitted from future display in the contact list onthe list area 220.

Referring to FIG. 5( d), if the Aidan contact 224 is omitted duringdisplay of the contact list on the list area 220, the mobile terminal100 may display the detailed information display screen 240 of therelevant contact 224 on the display unit. The detailed informationdisplay screen 240 may display an image, a name, and a contactindicating the person of the contact as described above. At the sametime, when there exists a contact linked to the Aidan contact 224, anindicator 244 indicating that there is a contact to be connected theretomay be displayed. If the indicator 244 is selected, then the detailedinformation of the Adam contact 222 linked to the Aidan contact 224 willbe displayed.

Alternatively, the detailed information of the Adam contact 222 linkedto the Aidan contact 224 may be immediately displayed. In other words,if the Aidan contact 224 is selected in the list area 220, a contactinformation display screen 250 for displaying the detailed informationof the contact 222 connected to the selected contact 224 can bedisplayed as illustrated in FIG. 7( b). The contact information displayscreen 250 may display the detailed information 252 of the selectedcontact 224 and the detailed information 254 of the contact 222 linkedto the contact 224.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to a second embodiment disclosed herein. Referring to FIG.5( b) again, the user may drag and drop the Adam contact 222 to the workarea 230, and accordingly, the mobile terminal 100 may store the Adamcontact 222 in a buffer. An icon 232 corresponding to the Adam contact222 is displayed on the work area 230.

In this state, referring to FIG. 6( a), the user may drag and drop theAidan contact 224 to the work area 230, and accordingly, the mobileterminal 100 may store the Aidan contact 224 in a buffer. An icon 234corresponding to the Aidan contact 222 on the work area 230.

Referring to FIG. 6( b), if the user selects a contact generation iconmenu 212 for generating a new contact in a state that the icon 232 andthe icon 234 are displayed on the work area 230, then the mobileterminal 100 may link the Adam contact 222 to the Aidan contact 224 andstore both of them. Such that when Aidan contact is selected from acontact list, detailed information 240 of FIG. 5( d) or FIG. 7( b) isdisplayed. Likewise, such linked information may be shown when the Adamcontact is selected from the contact list. Alternatively, automaticlinking may occur when the Aidan contact is dragged in the work area.Alternatively, when a contact generation icon 212 is selected, a newcontact entry screen may be displayed with the Adam contact 222 and theAidan contact linked to the new contact to be entered.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to first and second embodiments. Referring to FIG. 7( a),the contact list display screen 200 may include the title area 210 andthe list area 220, and an image and a name indicating each contact maybe displayed on the list area 220. The mobile terminal 100 may furtherdisplay an indicator 226 to distinguish the contact 224 which islinked/associated to another contact from other contact which does notinclude such linking.

The mobile terminal 100 may further display a contact connected toanother contact 224 according to an implementation example asillustrated in FIG. 7( a), or may not display it. For instance, if theAdam contact is linked to the Aidan contact, the Adam contact may not bedisplayed on the list area 220. The user may select the Aidan contact tocheck/obtain the detailed information of the Adam contact.

If an indicator 242 indicating that there exists a contact linkedthereto in the detailed information display screen 240 described withreference to FIG. 5( d) is selected, then the detailed information ofthe contact connected thereto will be displayed as shown in FIG. 7( b).Alternatively, the contact information screen 250 may be automaticallydisplayed when Aidan contact 226 is selected. The contact informationscreen 250 may display the detailed information 252 of the selectedcontact 224 and the detailed information 254 of the contact linked tothe selected contact 224.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobile terminal100 according to a first embodiment disclosed herein. The mobileterminal 100 may provide a function of displaying a bulletin postedthrough a network service such as Social Network Service (SNS), such asTwitter or Facebook, as a list form. If the user selects an iconconfigured to implement a bulletin list display function, then themobile terminal 100 displays a bulletin list on a bulletin list displayscreen 300. The bulletin list may be a list of bulletins stored in themobile terminal 100 or a server.

The bulletin list display screen 300 may include a title area 310 forindicating information displayed on the display unit and a list area 320for displaying a plurality of bulletins (bulletin list). For example, abulletin add icon 312 to add a new bulletin may be provided on the titlearea 310. Images indicating the publisher of each bulletin and briefinformation of the bulletin may be displayed on the list area 320.

Referring to FIG. 8( b), for example, when the user performs a longtouch on one bulletin 322 among the bulletins displayed on the list area320 or selects a predetermined menu though not shown in the drawing, awork, mini-desktop or linking area 330 capable of receiving bulletinsmay be configured or automatically provided on the display unit. Thework area 330 may be displayed at a partial region of the display unit,and may be displayed, for example, at a lower end of the bulletin listdisplay screen 300. Furthermore, the work area 330 may be displayed tooverlap with the list area 320, or may be displayed in asemi-transparent layer form to allow the user to view the overlappedbulletin.

The user may drag and drop the long touched bulletin 322 to the storagearea 330, and accordingly, the mobile terminal 100 may display an icon332 indicating the dragged and dropped bulletin 322 on the storage area330. The mobile terminal 100 may extract a plurality of contacts fromthe bulletin 322 and temporarily store them in a buffer or memorydevice.

Referring to FIG. 8( c), if the user selects the contact add icon 312 toadd a new contact in a state that the icon 332 is displayed on thestorage area 330, then the mobile terminal 100 may extract a pluralityof contacts from the relevant bulletin 322, and link the plurality ofcontacts extracted from the bulletin 322 to one another. For example,another contact may be subordinately linked to one contact extractedfrom the bulletin 322 to store both of them.

FIG. 9 is a detailed view illustrating a bulletin 322 shown in FIG. 8.The bulletin 322 can be transferred, replied or “tweeted” by anotheruser other than the user 322-1 who prepares the original text. In otherwords, the bulletin 322 can be sent to specific users designated by theuser who prepares the original text, and the users 322-2, 322-3 who canview the bulletin 322 can reply or tweet the bulletin 322 to stillanother user. The contact of the user 322-1 who prepares the originaltext and the users 322-2, 322-3 who transfer the bulletin 322 may becontained in the bulletin 322. Furthermore, the user 322-1 who preparesthe original text and the users 322-2, 322-3 who transfer the bulletin322 may be displayed in a distinguished manner within the bulletin 322.

Referring to FIG. 9( b), if the original text of the bulletin 322 hasbeen prepared, then the user who prepares the original text or anotheruser may prepare an add comment in response to the original text. Thecontact of the user 322-1 who prepares the original text and the users322-2, 322-3 who transfer the bulletin 322 may be contained in thebulletin 322. Furthermore, the original text and add comment may bedisplayed in a distinguished manner within the bulletin 322.

In this manner, the contacts of a plurality of users may be containedwithin one bulletin, and in this case, a plurality of contacts may besubordinately connected or linked to one contact. The foregoing userinterface allow one main contact to be connected to one or moreauxiliary contacts subordinately connected to the one main contact.

On the other hand, when a plurality of contacts contained in thebulletin are contacts that have been stored in advance in the contactlist, the mobile terminal 100 may link or associate the relevantplurality of contacts in the contact list to store them. In other words,referring to FIG. 9( c), since “Aidan” 323-1 and “Adam” 323-2 which arecontacts contained in the bulletin 322 have been stored in advance inthe contact list, the mobile terminal 100 can associate or link the Adamcontact to the Aidan contact in the contact list to store them. However,as illustrated in FIG. 9( a), since “brlove” 322-1, “Shine” 322-2 and“Cartier” 322-3 which are contacts contained in the bulletin 322 havenot been stored in the contact list (or phonebook), the mobile terminal100 may generate contacts corresponding to “brlove”, “Shine” and“Cartier” in the contact list, and associate or link the generatedcontacts to store them.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a result to which a contact disclosedherein is connected, linked or associated. If the user selects the addicon or menu 312 to add a new contact in a state of FIG. 8( a) and/orthe icon 332 indicating the bulletin 322 are displayed on the work area330 of FIG. 9( b), then the mobile terminal 100 may link one or moreauxiliary contacts 322-2, 322-3 to one main contact 322-1 from therelevant bulletin 322.

Referring to FIG. 10( a), when one or more auxiliary contacts 252-2,252-3 are subordinately connected or linked to one main contact 252-1,the contact or linked information display screen 250 for displaying thedetailed information of the linked contact may display the detailedinformation of the main contact 252-1 of the bulletin 322 and thedetailed information of the auxiliary contacts 252-2, 252-3 linked tothe main contact 322-1.

Referring to FIG. 10( b), when one or more auxiliary contacts 252-2,252-3 are equally connected to one main contact 252-1, the contact groupdisplay screen 260 for displaying a contact group may generate anddisplay a group 262 containing the main contact 252-1 of the bulletin322 and the auxiliary contacts 252-2, 252-3 connected to the maincontact 252-1.

FIG. 11 is a view for specifically explaining an interface of theworking area 230 according to embodiments disclosed herein. The workarea 230 capable of displaying dragged and/or dropped contacts displayedon the list area 220 by a user's input may be configured on the displayunit, and the work area 230 may be displayed at a partial region of thedisplay unit.

The setting of the work area 230 may be released on the display unit bya user's input. For example, if a close menu or icon 230-1 of the workarea 230 is selected, then items that have been overlapped with thestorage area 230 will be displayed again while the work area 230 isclosed.

The work area 230 may display icons 232, 234 indicating items 222, 224selected from the item list 220. If a delete menu 232-1, 234-1 isselected, then the icons 232, 234 may be deleted from the work area 230.When two or more icons are displayed on the work area 230 in anembodiment in which one contact can be subordinately connected or linkedto one or more contacts, an icon or indication 232-2, 234-2 capable ofdesignating a contact corresponding to any one icon as main contact willbe displayed. The corresponding contact can be designated as a main orauxiliary contact as the icon 232-2, 234-2 is toggled.

In the above embodiments, a work area has been shown as a way of linkingtwo or more contacts or bulletins. As can be appreciated, linking may bealso performed by simultaneously selecting two or more contacts.Alternatively, an additional linking icon may be provided on the displayscreen 200 or 300, or after selection of the linking icon, a user maysubsequently select a plurality of items to link the selected itemstogether.

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining a method of performing the operation ofa mobile terminal according to a third embodiment disclosed herein. Themobile terminal 100 may perform a process of displaying a contact listcontaining a plurality of contacts (S210). The mobile terminal 100performs a process of designating one first contact in the contact listas a first recipient according to a user's input (S220). When thereexists at least one second contact linked to the first contact, themobile terminal 100 performs a process of designating the at least onesecond contact as a second recipient (S230). The mobile terminal 100performs a process of performing a first operation for the firstrecipient, and performing a second subordinate operation to the firstoperation for the second recipient (S240). The first operation and thesubordinate operation may be the same or different.

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobileterminal 100 according to a third embodiment disclosed herein. Referringto FIG. 13( a), the mobile terminal 100 provides an interface forallowing the user to prepare a new mail. A mail preparation screen 400may include a title area 410 for indicating information displayed on thedisplay unit, a recipient designation area 420 for designating a personwho receives the mail, a reference area 430 for designating a person whorefers to the mail, a title preparation area 440 for preparing a titleof the mail, and a content preparation area 450 for preparing a contentof the mail.

On the recipient designation area 420, the user may directly input thecontact of the recipient using a text input scheme, or select an importmenu or icon 422 to select a contact that has been stored in advance ina phonebook of the mobile terminal 100.

If the import menu 422 is selected, then the contact list display screen200 will be displayed as illustrated in FIG. 13( b). As described above,the contact list display screen 200 may include the title area 210 andlist area 220, and an image and a name indicating a person correspondingto each contact may be displayed on the list area 220. Furthermore, anindicator 226 may be further displayed on the contact 224 subordinatelyconnected to another contact to distinguish it from the another contact.

If a contact 222 which is not subordinately connected to another contactis selected, then the selected contact 222 may be designated anddisplayed on the recipient designation area 420 as illustrated in FIG.13( a). However, if a contact 222 subordinately connected to anothercontact is selected or the email address is manually typed in for acontact associated with another contact, then the selected contact 222may be designated and displayed on the recipient designation area 420 asillustrated in FIG. 13( c), and a contact 432 subordinately linked tothe selected contact 424 may be designated and displayed on thereference area 430. Furthermore, if a send menu 412 is selected, thenthe mobile terminal 100 transmits a mail using the contact 424 as arecipient, and transmits the same mail using the contact 432 as areference.

Accordingly, the user can perform multiple operations based on a contactselected by the mobile terminal 100 and a contact linked to the selectedcontact, respectively. Accordingly, there is an advantage that the usercan transmit a mail at the same time to various contacts with a simplemanipulation using a suitable scheme.

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating the process of selecting a main contactand an auxiliary contact according to a third embodiment disclosedherein.

In order to prevent the user from unintentionally performing anoperation for a plurality of contacts, the mobile terminal 100 providesan interface capable of selecting only a contact desired to perform theoperation among the linked contacts. As described above, the contactinformation display screen 250 for displaying the detailed informationof the connected contact may display the contact information 252 of aselected item and another contact information 254 linked or associatedto the contact information 252.

A menu or an icon 252-1, 254-1 for selecting whether the relevantcontact is to be contained as a parameter of operation implementationwill be further displayed. The relevant contact may be contained or notcontained when the menu 252-1, 254-1 is toggled. Accordingly, the usercan individually select a contact desired to perform the operation.Based on toggling the icon 252-1 and not toggling the icon 254-1, themail in the above example will not be sent to Adam when the Aidancontact is selected.

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobileterminal 100 according to a third embodiment disclosed herein.

Referring to FIG. 15( a), the foregoing contact list display screen 200may further display a call menu 224-1 for originating a call to eachcontact. When there does not exist another item associated or linked tothe contact, the call menu may be merely an individual call menurequesting an individual call for the relevant item. However, when thereexists another item connected to the contact, the call menu may be anindividual call menu requesting a group call for the relevant contactand another contact linked to the relevant contact.

Moreover, if the call menu 224-1 is selected, then the mobile terminal100 can request video communication for the relevant contact 224 whileat the same time requesting voice communication for another contactlinked to the relevant contact 224 as illustrated in FIG. 15( b).Accordingly, the mobile terminal 100 may display a group call screen 500containing a video communication area 512 for the contact 224, and avoice communication area 514 for the another contact connected to thecontact 224.

Accordingly, the mobile terminal 100 may provide an interface forperforming video communication with a main contact, and performing voicecommunication with an auxiliary contact. There exists an advantage ofsolving the problem of a limited display space and network resourcedistribution, and providing convenience to the user when a mainparticipant and auxiliary participants are divided in a conference.

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobileterminal 100 according to a third embodiment disclosed herein. Referringto FIG. 16( a), the mobile terminal 100 may provide an interface forpreparing a new message (short message, multimedia message, etc.). Amessage preparation screen 600 may include a recipient designation area610 for designating a person who receives the message, and a contentpreparation area 620 for preparing a content of the message.

On the recipient designation area 610, the user may directly input thecontact of the recipient using a text input scheme, or select an importmenu 612 to select a contact that has been stored in advance in aphonebook of the mobile terminal 100.

If the import menu 612 is selected, then the contact list display screen200 will be displayed as illustrated in FIG. 16( b). As described above,the contact list display screen 200 may include the title area 210 andlist area 220, and an image and a name indicating the person of eachcontact may be displayed on the list area 220. Furthermore, an indicator226 may be further displayed on the contact 224 subordinately linked toanother contact to distinguish it from the another contact.

If a contact 224 subordinately linked to another contact is selected ormanually typed into the area 610, then the selected contact 614 may bedesignated and displayed on the recipient designation area 610 asillustrated in FIG. 16( c). Furthermore, multimedia data 624 such as apicture, video, and the like in addition to text 622 may be added to themessage on the content preparation area 620.

The mobile terminal 100 transmits multimedia data 624 along with text622 to the selected contact 614. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 100transmits only text 622 excluding multimedia data 624 to a contactassociated to the selected contact 614. For instance, the mobileterminal 100 transmits a message to the selected contact 614 using aMultimedia Messaging System (MMS), and transmits the same message to acontact associated to the selected contact 614 using a Short MessageService (SMS).

Accordingly, different operations may be performed for a contactselected by the mobile terminal 100 and a contact associated to theselected contact, respectively, though one contact has been selectedonly. Accordingly, there is an advantage that the user can transmit amail at the same time to various contacts with a simple manipulationusing a suitable scheme.

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating the operation example of a mobileterminal 100 according to a third embodiment disclosed herein. Referringto FIG. 17( a), the mobile terminal 100 may provide an emergency calllist display screen 700. The emergency call list display screen 700 isprovided for the user to directly originate a call to a predeterminedcontact with a simple manipulation in an emergency state, and theemergency call list display screen 700 may be displayed even though thelock is not released in a locked state. The emergency call list displayscreen 700 may display several contacts predetermined by the mobileterminal 100 or a contact 710 predetermined by the user.

In particular, the user may associate or link one or more auxiliarycontacts to one main contact or allow the one main contact to becontained in an emergency call list through the foregoing userinterface. In this manner, if the contact 710 predetermined by the useris selected, then an emergency call request to the corresponding maincontact 722 will be carried out as illustrated in FIG. 17( b). At thesame time, location information to which the mobile terminal 100 hasrequested an emergency call will be transmitted to one or more auxiliarycontacts 724 connected to the main contact 722.

Accordingly, the user can use an emergency call service in a safermanner, and particularly, the emergency call service may exhibit asynergy effect with the location information service, and a burden ofthe user's selection required for this may be mostly resolved by usingthe foregoing user interface.

On the other hand, in addition to the foregoing embodiments, anembodiment may be also taken into consideration that if a message isreceived from an external device when the mobile terminal 100 isdesignated as a main contact by the external device, then the mobileterminal 100 transfers the message to another external device designatedas an auxiliary contact. For instance, information on the main contactand auxiliary contact may be received through a message from theexternal device, or may be stored in advance in the mobile terminal 100.In case where a grade such as a manager, a general member, or the likeis provided in the Internet community, such an embodiment may be usefulwhen a manager is designated as a main contact and general members aredesignated as auxiliary contacts.

The present disclosure discloses a mobile terminal for maximizing theuse of a contact connecting function by providing a highly expandableinterface capable of connecting two or more contacts.

A method may include displaying a contact list containing a plurality ofcontacts; designating a first contact in the contact list as a firstrecipient according to a user's input; designating at least one secondcontact as a second recipient when there exists the at least one secondcontact connected to the first contact; and performing a first operationfor the first recipient, and performing a second operation subordinateto the first operation for the second recipient.

The method may be characterized in that the first operation is anoperation for designating the first recipient as a receiver to transmita mail, and the second operation is an operation for designating thesecond recipient as a reference to transmit the mail.

The method may be characterized in that the first operation is anoperation for transmitting a message to the first recipient using aMultimedia Messaging System (MMS), and the second operation is anoperation for transmitting a message to the second recipient using aShort Message Service (SMS).

The method may be characterized in that the first operation is anoperation for performing a call with the first recipient using a videocommunication scheme, and the second operation is an operation forperforming a call with the second recipient using a voice communicationscheme.

The method may be characterized in that the first operation is anoperation for placing an emergency call to the first recipient, and thesecond operation is an operation for sending location information of themobile terminal when making the emergency call to the second recipient.

The method may further include storing the second contact by associatingit to the first contact.

A mobile terminal may include a display unit configured to display acontact list containing a plurality of contacts; and a controllerconfigured to designate a first contact in the contact list as a firstrecipient according to a user's input, and designate at least one secondcontact as a second recipient when there exists the at least one secondcontact connected to the first contact, and perform a first operationfor the first recipient and perform a second operation subordinate tothe first operation for the second recipient.

A method may include displaying a list containing a plurality of itemson a display unit; configuring a storage area on the display unit;storing a first item selected from the list in the storage area; andconnecting a first contact associated with the first item to a secondcontact associated with a second item selected from the list.

The method may further include performing a first operation for thefirst contact, and performing a second operation subordinate to thefirst operation for the second contact when the first contact isdesignated as a recipient.

The method may be characterized in that the storing step includesselecting an item dragged and dropped from the list to the work area asthe first item, and said connecting step includes selecting an itemcorresponding to the position at which the first item has been droppedas the second item when the first item has been dragged and dropped fromthe work area to the list.

The method may be characterized in that said configuring the work areaincludes displaying the work area on the display unit.

The method may be characterized in that the work area is displayed onthe display unit until the association or linking step is carried out oran input for releasing the work area is received.

The method may be characterized in that the work area is displayed onthe display unit to overlap with part of a region where the list isdisplayed.

A method may include displaying a list containing a plurality of itemson a display unit; configuring a storage area on the display unit;storing at least one item selected from the list in the storage area;and connecting a plurality of contacts associated with the at least oneitem.

The method may be characterized in that said storing step includesselecting at least one item dragged and dropped from the list to thestorage area.

The method may be characterized in that the at least one item is aSocial Network Service (SNS) bulletin.

The method may be characterized in that said connecting step includesreceiving an input for selecting any one of the at least one items; andconnecting a contact associated with the selected any one item to acontact associated with the other remaining item.

The method may be characterized in that the storage area is displayed onthe display unit until the connecting step is carried out or an inputfor releasing the storage area is received.

The method may be characterized in that said connecting step isperformed to link a plurality of contacts stored in a phone book whenthe plurality of contacts are stored in the phone book.

The method may further include performing a first operation for aspecific contact when the specific contact is designated as a recipientamong the plurality of contacts, and performing a second operationsubordinate to the first operation for the remaining contact among theplurality of contacts.

According to the present disclosure, different functions may be carriedout for a contact designated by the mobile terminal and a contactassociated to the contact by allowing one contact to be designated bythe user, thereby having an effect of enhancing the convenience of acontact management function. Furthermore, an intuitive user interfacefor associating two or more different contacts may be provided in themobile terminal, thereby allowing whoever to use the relevant functionin an easy and convenient manner.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within thepurview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, orcharacteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number ofillustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerousother modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled inthe art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles ofthis disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modificationsare possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subjectcombination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawingsand the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications inthe component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also beapparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile terminal, comprising: a touch screenconfigured to display a first contact list having a plurality ofcontacts including a first contact and a second contact; and acontroller coupled to the touch screen, wherein detailed information ofa first contact is displayed on the touch screen based on a touch inputto the first contact, wherein the detailed information includes an iconfor linking at least one contact, a second contact list having theplurality of contacts is displayed on the touch screen based on a touchinput to the icon, the second contact list excluding the first contact,and the detailed information of the first contact with information ofthe second contact is displayed on the touch screen based on a touchinput on the second contact in the second contact list, and a thirdcontact list having the plurality of contacts is displayed on the touchscreen, the third contact list excluding the second contact.
 2. Themobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the second contact is linked to thefirst contact in the third contact list.
 3. The mobile terminal of claim1, wherein linked contacts are displayed in a prescribed area of thetouch screen.
 4. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein at least one ofthe linked contacts displayed in the prescribed area includes a deleteicon to delete the corresponding contact from the prescribed area. 5.The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein the linked contacts displayed inthe prescribed area are designated as a main contact or an auxiliarycontact.
 6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the first and secondcontacts are configured such that prescribed functions performed withrespect to the first contact are selectively performed on the secondcontact.
 7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein a third contactamong the plurality of contacts is a contact associated with a socialnetwork service (SNS).
 8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein atleast one contact having a social network service (SNS) relationshipwith the third contact is generated based on the third contact.
 9. Themobile terminal of claim 8, wherein the generated contact related to thethird contact is linked to the third contact.
 10. The mobile terminal ofclaim 8, wherein the generated contact having the SNS relationship withthe third contact is added to the third contact list.
 11. A method ofcontrolling a mobile terminal, comprising: displaying on a touch screena first contact list having a plurality of contacts including a firstcontact and a second contact; and displaying detailed information of afirst contact on the touch screen based on a touch input to the firstcontact, wherein the detailed information includes an icon for linkingat least one contact, displaying a second contact list having theplurality of contacts on the touch screen based on a touch input to theicon, the second contact list excluding the first contact, anddisplaying the detailed information of the first contact withinformation of the second contact on the touch screen based on a touchinput on the second contact in the second contact list, and generating athird contact list having the plurality of contacts for display on thetouch screen, the third contact list excluding the second contact. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein the second contact is linked to thefirst contact in the third contact list.
 13. The method of claim 11,further including displaying linked contacts in a prescribed area of thetouch screen.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of thelinked contacts displayed in the prescribed area includes a delete iconto delete the corresponding contact from the prescribed area.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the linked contacts displayed in theprescribed area are designated as a main contact or an auxiliarycontact.
 16. The method of claim 11, further including selectivelyperforming a prescribed function performed with respect to the firstcontact on the second contact linked to the first contact.
 17. Themethod of claim 11, wherein a third contact among the plurality ofcontacts is a contact associated with a social network service (SNS).18. The method of claim 17, further including generating at least onecontact having a social network service (SNS) relationship with thethird contact generated based on the third contact.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, further including linking the generated contact related to thethird contact to the third contact.
 20. The method of claim 18, furtherincluding adding the generated contact having the SNS relationship withthe third contact to the third contact list.